Bad Love
by Jellyfish McGee
Summary: What if Edward learned to let go before Bella arrived? Where would Edward's affections lie if he met other newcomers right before Bella? If Forks became a hotbed of supernatural happenings, would the obsession fester as it did?
1. Chapter 1

_I'm going out, I'm gonna drink myself __to death  
><em>_And in the crowd I see you with someone else  
><em>_I brace myself 'cause I know it's going to hurt  
><em>_But I like to think at least things can't get any worse  
>-<strong>Hurricane Drunk<strong>_

_**Prologue**_

Edward was at the party, that much I knew. I had been looking for him all night; that kid was eluding me.

Mike Newton was drunk on Mickey Finns; I could smell it on his breath as he whispered sweet nothings in my ear.

"You're like an 8," he slurred. "I mean, if you had brown hair, you'd be a 9, what can I say? I'm a sucker for brunettes,"

I immediately thought Bella, and another person who obviously preferred brunettes. I got up, and shambled to the kitchen. A couple more shots and I might feel less shitty about myself.

In Mike's kitchen, I found a half full bottle of tequila, an optimistic start. _Why did I even bother to go to this party? _I began to drink from the bottle. I looked around, and the only other person in the room was some poor soul, puking their ring up in the sink.

The person turned around groggily, and I thought, _perfect_.

"Ramona," my little sister had vomit dribbling down her chin. Her dress was on backwards, and her eyes could hardly focus on me. "I threw up on my shoes in front of Richard Darcy,"

"Good stuff, you bloody arsehole," I took her by the paw and began leading her away. It was like the deaf leading the blind; Lilo in one arm, tequila in the other, staggering down the hallway towards Mike's parents' bedroom.

Inside, two kids were making out on the bed, and I realised with a jolt it was Edward's adopted sister and her boyfriend. "Get out!" I screamed.

"What's wrong with her?" she spat, looking me and Lilo up and down.

"No time to explain!"

She hissed as she untangled herself from her man, and left silently. I put Lilo to bed.

"LOL! Whatta bitch," I muttered, leaving the room, swigging my juice. I couldn't feel my face. _Score!_

I passed Eric Yorkie in the hallway, he had that Lauren girl from my geometry class by the claw. I gave him a sloppy wink, which he returned with equal flair, and continued sauntering down the hallway.

I reached the top of the hallway and froze; he was standing alone in the doorway to the sitting room.

_Shit shit shit shit shit. _He looked up at me with those honeyed eyes. Maybe it was just wishful thinking in my drunken state, but he looked apologetic.

I put on a nonchalant expression. My tequila bottle was empty. The room was swimming. _Don't cry. _

Drunk, upset and lonely as I was, he could never know. I knew Bella was ghosting about somewhere, being pale and sensitive, with everyone fawning over her.

Looking around in a panic for anyone to hide in conversation with, I saw that new guy, the one who came to school just after I did, from England. He was standing alone, with two cans of Heiniken in his hands, looking around awkwardly.

You know sometimes, when you're drunk, you get an idea into your head, something really stupid that you'd never usually do, but at the time it's all you can think about?

I was going to make Edward jealous, and this English kid was just the right ticket. I swaggered over to him.

"Haaaaay," I said, probably not very seductively. "You're William, you're in my Trig class?"

"Eh yes," he said, in a lovely accent. "Willy, actually."

I laughed spasmodically, playfully slapping his arm. Maybe I was laying it on thick, but I wasn't because I was awesome and Edward would be so jealous.

Looking at him up close for the first time, I noticed he had forest green eyes. Clean shaven, floppy brown hair. _Not bad. _

"If you don't mind me saying, you look like a blue-eyed Kate Winslet," he said softly.

I didn't mind him saying, not at all. I licked his face in thanks. He was powerless; his hands were full of beer cans.

I turned around to check if Edward was watching; he was gone. I sighed dejectedly and sat on the ground. Willy sat beside me. The room was spinning.

I sighed sadly again. "I'm a wasted mess,"

"I'm socially awkward," he added.

"I really like someone who is in love with a shy freak,"

"I'm a drug dealer,"

"I killed a man,"

He laughed. "Isn't this a fun game?"

Yes. A game.


	2. Chapter 2

_alk like a ghost through the streets_  
><em>Soaked from the pouring rain<em>  
><em>And I won't ask your God for mercy<em>  
><em>My spirits're low, my soul is dirty<em>  
><strong>-Bad Love<strong>

_**A few weeks previous**_

Precipitation. How wet. It was five o'clock when the first drops of rain fell on the road. By this time I knew we were nearing Forks, the rainiest place in the Pacific North West. The sky overhead was tattered and black, wild and fascinating. Thunder clapped hands somewhere above the clouds. The AC in the car was moody, so we had to endure Forks' nippy climate to the full.

The long drive from Mushaboom, Nova Scotia, had really taken it's toll on my face, I could feel the makeup sinking into my pores. I don't even know why I bothered applying my makeup so carefully this morning; it was only Forks. There was probably something like four teenagers here, and would definitely be no beauty contest.

However, what had brought us here wasn't just Forks' weather. It had been where my dad, Vincent, had grown up, and his blissful childhood stories had prompted me to make the decision to move here, let alone that we had inherited a house here.

I glanced behind me. My sister, Lilo, was asleep, sprawled across the backseat, snoring and mumbling to herself. Her blonde hair lay in tangles around her sleeping face. I smiled as she wrinkled her little nose. It looked like a squashed potato, but it suited her though, in a weird way.

I made out the sign for Forks through the misty drizzle, kept my nose to the grindstone and continued on through the town. I smiled even just thinking about our future here; no old grudges, no arson, no murder, just pure and simple small town life.

I turned my car up a small lane, and then suddenly a yellow house was in view. Our house. It was smaller than in the picture, the yellow paint peeling in certain areas, and the garden was entirely overgrown. There were weeds blossoming up through cracks in the derelict path, and silver bugs swarmed the windows. Damn. Water damage.

I parked the car in the small driveway, just as Lilo raised her messy head.

"We there?" she asked, dazed and confused, her voice thick with sleep. I nodded, and she looked out the window of the car. "Ah hell nah," she sighed. I just nodded once again in agreement. Al hell nah, indeed.

We got out and got the luggage from the boot of the car, and carried it to the door. I fumbled with the keys to the house for a moment, and then unlocked the door. We were greeted with a blast of stale air. This house was long dead.

"This place is a joke." Lilo was not amused.

"I know," I stuttered. "The real-estate agent said that it just needed a lick of paint… this is unexpected. Oh well, we'll have to make the best of it, I suppose." Making the best of a situation was my specialty. _A fella sleazing on your sister? Kill him with a brick_. In a week this place would feel like home… there was a hardware store in town, we could go get supplies after school tomorrow, and make a start at fixing this place up.

"When does our furniture arrive?" she asked, clutching her bags.

"Our house burnt down, ya hooser. We don't have any." I responded, insanely calm, inspecting the thick layer of dust on windowsill. "C'mon, lets clear out a room and put our stuff down."

We explored the two story house, and decided to stay in one room together, until it got cleaned out. We only had two sleeping bags until we could get proper beds, but they were alright. I grabbed a broom that I found and started briskly doing a quick sweep of the house. Lilo set up the bags and cleared the room, whilst muttering un-profanities like 'spider cunt' and 'fuckin' hooser' while I got the place as clean as possible. Her deplorable language was easily overlooked once you knew her well enough. Then we moved on to the kitchen. We sprayed and disinfected everything, and put some of the food that we brought in the cupboards.

After hours of scrubbing and scowering, the house looked like half decent mess. Feeling drowsy, I went upstairs switching off lights as I went, _just like I saw the light leave his eyes_ and got into the sleeping bag that Lilo had set up in the cleanest room. She was already asleep, soundly, but I knew that wouldn't last. In a few hours, she'd pass the REM sleep and begin laughing and screaming manically.

After three hours of restless sleep, I sat up. This house didn't feel right. Lilo, sensing my movement, turned to me.

"You're taking all of the fucking blankets," she hissed. I knew she was sleeptalking.

"We're in sleeping bags, Lilo,"

"You're ass is taking up all of the room," she spat. "Just fuck off, Ramona!"

I rolled my eyes and ignored her.

"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING ROOM!"

Sighing, I got up, and shrugged on my brown cord jacket. As I shut the front door, I realised that I was still wearing my tiny little sleepy shorts and white tshirt, but Forks was lovely and warm compared to Canada, albeit a bit damp.

I strolled down the lane and into the abutting forest, and took out my phone for some light. No new messages. I wasn't used to being so alone in the world; that was another reason I had no qualms about leaving Mushaboom. It was the right thing to do, to break up with Marlon; but as soon as it was over, I was overwhelmed with a crushing loneliness; after three years of constant communication it was the sense of being missed that created this void.

The starry night was overwhelmingly beautiful. I could hear a river rushing past due east, and felt an urge to go look at it. I mean, since I wasn't getting any sleep with blonde devil incarnate sleeptalking, I might as well see if there was a good swimming creek within walking distance.

Two hundred metres into the forest, after battling my way past the moonlit trees, I found the river. It was three metres wide, and the water was slow and mirrorlike. It was like something out of a fairy story; the moon reflected perfectly in the crystalline surface.

I reached for a low overhanging branch, and caught sight of myself in the clear surface. My blond hair had fallen out of its bun, and hung down in front of me as I gazed at myself; my cheeks were flushed from my trek, but my eyes looked wild blue, and frightening. The otherworldly reflection terrified me.

"You do know that this is private property?" a dry, smooth voice came from the darkness.

The spell was broken; I whipped around, forgetting that the low branch was the only thing keeping me from falling into the watery abyss.

The last thing I saw, before the vertigo of falling backwards off the river bank set in, was a tall pale figure, regarding me with mocking eyes.


End file.
